Tag: Steve Miller Band

Paul Pena was born January 26, 1950 and met his end on October 1, 2005. You’ve probably never heard of him. If you have, then you’re awesome. Paul Pena was a blues and rock & roll artist through most of his career.

You may remember the Steve Miller Band‘s song ‘Jet Airliner’. You may not, however, know that this song was not originally written by Steve Miller.

Paul Pena was actually an amazing artist. What I thought was even more impressive was the fact that Pena was completely blind by the time he was 20 years old. I like the Steve Miller Band. If you like 60’s & 70’s rock or classic rock, as it’s typically referred to, then you probably like or at least have heard of the Steve Miller Band.You’ve likely heard the song ‘Jet Airliner’ by the Steve Miller Band as well.

New Train was a Pena album recorded in 1973 and was released in 2000. Ben Sidran, the keyboardist for the Steve Miller Band, was actually the one who produced Pena’s album. Flashback to the 70’s. When Sidran played the Jet Airliner track for Steve Miller, he was said to have instantly fallen in love with the song. Thus, the Jet Airliner song that you’re used to hearing is the Steve Miller Band rendition of Paul Pena’s original song.

Paul Pena had an interesting history. When you know a little bit more about who the man was, it makes the original song that much more spellbinding. Like I said, I like the Steve Miller Band, and their cover was great, but I would have to say that I indeed like Paul Pena’s original much better. Here’s Paul Pena’s original song Jet Airliner.